Longtime ESPN exec Russell Wolff accepted a position with Sixth Street Partners, an investment company that manages $75 billion in assets. Wolff will start in January as a senior member of the sports, media and entertainment group.
Wolff’s charge will be to help Sixth Street navigate its sports media and digital viewing investments as both marketplaces wind their way through periods of intense changes.
Wolff’s role will be to identify investment opportunities to a firm that already has significant sports and media holdings. In 2021, it became the majority investor in Legends and took a 20% stake in the Spurs. Last year, it was part of a $380 million partnership with Real Madrid, bought a 25% share of FC Barcelona’s domestic audio/visual rights as part of a 25-year deal and co-founded the NWSL expansion franchise Bay FC, which begins play in San Jose next year.
Wolff left ESPN in July following a 26-year career that had him overseeing ESPN+ and heading up ESPN’s international business. Wolff sat on ESPN’s board and headed up the company’s relationship with Special Olympics since 2014.
